There’s a new guard in town at Milan Fashion Week this season, as several of the city’s stalwart houses prepare to unveil newly instated creative directors. On Tuesday (23 September), subversive Georgian designer Demna (formerly of Balenciaga) kicked off proceedings with a soft launch of his Gucci tenure, inviting a select group of guests to a Spike Jonze and Halina Reijn-directed short film titled The Tiger (more on which in our MFW live blog). Starring Edward Norton, Keke Palme and Demi Moore, the film teased what Demna described as an ‘unapologetically sexy, extravagant, and daring’ vision for the brand – one he will continue to hone at his debut runway show next February. Following suit, Simone Bellotti stepped into the spotlight at Jil Sander on Wednesday: taking over from husband-and-wife duo Luke and Lucie Meier after their ten-year tenure, he laid down a new chapter for the label at the brand’s Milanese headquarters.
But the week is only just beginning. On Friday (26 September), ex-Miu Miu designer Dario Vitale will show his opening vision for Versace at a special event (what this might be is yet to be confirmed), while on Saturday, Louise Trotter presents her first collection for Bottega Veneta (notably, Trotter is one of the few female appointments in the big fashion-house shake-up of 2025). Elsewhere, the city’s heavyweights – Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Missoni, Ferragamo and Fendi – are set to deliver their signature high-production shows, while younger names bring a buzz of new energy to the city, including London’s own KNWLS, which is joining the Milan calendar for the first time. As well as new beginnings, there comes one poignant farewell – a runway show on Sunday evening in memory of the late Giorgio Armani, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 91. The presentation will honour an irreplaceable visionary who has shaped decades of Italian style and culture.
Here, reporting from Milan, Wallpaper* fashion features editor Jack Moss and contributing fashion writer Orla Brennan pick MFW’s standout shows – as they happen.
KNWLS
(Image credit: Courtesy of KNWLS)
Usually an adrenalised highlight of the London Fashion Week calendar – showing in dimly lit underground car parks and warehouses – KNWLS has decamped to Milan for the first time in its history. Led by namesake Charlotte Knowles and her partner in work and life, Alexandre Arsenault, the move marks a defining step up for the brand as it joins fashion’s global heavyweights. KNWLS used the moment to debut a collaboration with Nike, merging its unabashedly sexy codes with the sportswear juggernaut’s breadth of technical resources. A collection of ‘fearless sensuality’ that moves from gym to club with ease, KNWLS signatures – corsetry and sensually cut cycling shapes – came in scuba-style tops, Nike Flyknit corsets, languid button-down dresses, and slinky tapered leggings crafted in Tencel fabrics. Accessories, meanwhile, saw models sling new nylon and leather versions of the popular ‘Razr’ bag – now finished with a rubber base inspired by Nike’s first waffle outsole – over shoulders, while vintage football shoes informed corset-laced reworks of the Air Max Muse. Elsewhere, severe leather outerwear with domed shoulders and cinched waists created an armour-like figure for the KNWLS woman this season, while a brown tartan storyline in floating dresses and strap-detailed, low-slung mini skirts reminded of the breakthrough designs that first put KNWLS on the map in the late 2010s. A celebration of the south London brand’s raw spirit at a pivotal point in its trajectory, the high-octane Milan display proved you can take KNWLS out of London, but you can’t take London out of KNWLS. Orla Brennan
(Image credit: Courtesy of KNWLS)
Jil Sander
(Image credit: Courtesy of Jil Sander)
Simone Bellotti chose Jil Sander’s headquarters on Piazza Castello for his debut show as creative director, a choice which suggested a homecoming. It has been eight years since the brand has shown here, with Bellotti’s predecessors, Lucie and Luke Meier, choosing to show at other locations across the city. Arriving at the minimalist headquarters, which had been installed with a ramped black runway for the occasion, there was plenty of anticipation: over a short but impactful tenure at Bally, Bellotti has become known as the fashion editor’s favourite designer. He may not have garnered the column inches of some of his more well-known contemporaries, but he has an eye for great clothes (and accessories) with enough of a twist to keep them fresh.
This continued here: opening with Guinevere Van Seenus – a longtime face of the label, appearing in some of the brand’s most memorable campaigns – the collection was a streamlined offering for men and women that returned to the idea of reduction synonymous with the brand’s namesake designer (Sander was a master of stripping away the extraneous; as such, she remains forever linked with 1990s minimalism). Tailoring was a highlight: jackets and overcoats were cleverly constructed to nip the contours of the waist, or came with shortened lapels, while skirts were slashed across their front, Lucio Fontana style. Moments of vivid colour across shrunken, colour-blocked knitwear felt particularly Jil Sander, while accessories were strong: from intriguingly shaped lace-up shoes with tiny in-set kitten heels to crescent-shaped handbags, there was plenty to desire here.
‘[It’s] a balance between structure, tailoring, and classicism, and modernity and lightness,’ Bellotti said post-show. ‘Trying to reveal the body in a subtle way. I really think Jil Sander has always had these two elements.’ In this balance, Bellotti struck a note of rare clarity that seemed to resonate. Afterwards, the mood was buoyant: consensus was that these were clothes you wanted to wear, now. And in a sea of debuts, that’s enough to stand out. Jack Moss
(Image credit: Courtesy of Jil Sander)
No.21
(Image credit: Courtesy of No. 21)
Alessandro Dell’Acqua is something of a film fanatic – an obsession that has trickled into his cinematic ideas of womanhood throughout his years at Brioni, Rochas, and latterly at his own brand No. 21 (named after his birthday and lucky number). Last season, it was the evocative worlds of Sofia Coppola that inspired the Italian designer, with scenes from Marie Antoinette and The Virgin Suicides informing a collection that offset expressive bow-shaped motifs in heavy wools with the girlish naivety of pastel-hued slip dresses. This season, however, the designer’s thoughts were on real life. Listening to the news each day, he began to question the superfluous role of a fashion designer amid a world in crisis.
Not a political statement, but an affirmation of his love of his craft – and of carrying on when things feel meaningless – the resulting collection he presented in Milan last night dug down into his design obsessions. A desire for lightness came in heat-pleated duchesse silk, airy polka dot dresses of a 1940s feeling, sensual side-slit sheer chiffon skirts and sweet cotton poplin shorts and shirting. Layering up pieces in playful configurations, colours and textures, meanwhile, evoked a feeling of chic eclecticism – mixing various forms of tartan, nostalgic florals, shiny metallic skirting and soft cashmere knitwear, thrown around models’ shoulders with a sense of ease. ‘I chose to forgo all symptoms of nostalgia, transforming them rather into a choral tale of experiences of fashion and design,’ the designer said following the show. Orla Brennan
(Image credit: Courtesy of No. 21)
Fendi
(Image credit: Courtesy of Fendi)
Silvia Venturini Fendi continued to have fun in her second season overseeing Fendi’s men’s and womenswear collections with an uplifting S/S 2026 show at the brand’s headquarters on Via Solari (previously heading up menswear and accessories, since the departure of Kim Jones last year, she has taken over the women’s collection as well). Staging her show amid a playful runway set by Marc Newson, comprising stacks of colourful blocks on which audience members perched, the designer said she was thinking about the idea of a ‘future summer’, translating moments of nostalgia into a sleek, contemporary vision. It made for an eclectic outing, with sportswear elements coming to the fore: ladylike pleated skirts and dresses had been reconstructed with adjustable toggle fastenings, while the sweatsuit was instilled with new glamour (crafted from sheer fabric, it came with slices of shearling across the jacket and pants). Colour was also vivid – a psychedelic palette matched Newson’s set – meeting moments of embellishment and pattern, from clusters of paillettes and lace motifs to 1960s-style flowers, cut out of garments. Particularly appealing were the accessories: enormous woven totes came in primary hues, while a version of the ‘Peekaboo’ flipped open to reveal a sequin-lined interior – the kind of surprise that Venturini Fendi loves. Jack Moss
(Image credit: Courtesy of Fendi)
For more of the week’s latest happenings, see our Milan Fashion Week live blog
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